Does Your Dog Need Boots? DIY Dog Booties! (with Pattern and Video)

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My dogs are not happy campers in the winter. Every morning my husband takes our two hefty dogs for a one-hour walk on our rural road. They come back limping. With the snow and rock salt on the roads, their paws are hurting. I have big 90 pound dogs, and while they might be pampered a bit in our home, outdoors these guys are canine tough. But, when winter rolls around, they are not as anxious to go for walks as they usually are. I’m told they need booties.

Does your Dog Need Booties? Here are some reasons they may (adapted from Dogtime):

1. You live in a cold climate where salt or chemicals are put on streets and sidewalks to melt the ice. (Not only can salt and ice-melters irritate paws, they can cause stomach upset when your dog licks her feet.)

2. Your dog walks on hot pavement in summer.

3. Your dog walks and runs over rough terrain.

4. Your dog’s healing from a paw injury.

5. You want to keep your dog from scratching herself.

I went searching for a solution to the number one reason dogs need boots – road salt. I found the Canadian blogger, Domestik Goddess had the perfect DIY answer – DIY Dog Boots. The Domestik Goddess designed polar-fleece dog boots. These are quick to make and easy to put on the dog. The boots are made with non-slip vinyl soles (probably an old leather glove would work), elastic at the ankles, and Velcro fasteners. Her dogs seem to like them. She based the pattern on an old set of store-bought dog booties and used some scraps of fleece, elastic, and Velcro that were left over from other sewing projects.

The pattern allows for boots that fit the designer’s Greyhound, Golden Retriever and smaller Beagle-Chihuahua.

I am making these booties and just hoping my guys won’t roll over and play dead with embarrassment!

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Ronnie Citron-Fink is a writer, editor and educator. She has written hundreds of articles about sustainable living, the environment, design, and family life for websites, books and magazines. Ronnie is the creator of Econesting, and the managing editor of Moms Clean Air Force. Ronnie was named one of the Top Ten Living Green Experts by Yahoo. Ronnie lives in New York with her family.

our pitbull needs boots to protect her feet in the winter as the snow and ice sometimes make them bleed. unfortunately in the deep snow we sometimes lose them, we have tried a product called invisble boots that seems to work well